1. Introduction

Where is Mount Olympus? For what was it famous?

How many of the dwellers on Mount Olympus can you name?

Apollo was the beloved son of Zeus, or Jupiter.

He was one of the most powerful of the Olympians. In Greek mythology, he appears as god of the sun, as god of music and skilful player on the lyre, as instructor of bards, as the guardian of flocks and herds, and as the god of medicine. What is a lyre? A bard was a poet who sang his own songs.

There are many stories about Apollo which you will like to find and read. One of them tells how Zeus, in spite of his love for his son, once became angry with him, and condemned him to work a whole year on the earth for a mortal, and how as a result he became herdsman for King Admetus. In this poem, Lowell tells how Apollo spent this year among men.

2. Reading Lesson

The Shepherd Of King Admetus

There came a youth upon the earth,

Some thousand years ago, Whose slender hands were nothing worth,

Whether to plough, or reap, or sow.

Upon an empty tortoise-shell He stretched some chords, and drew

Music that made men's bosoms swell Fearless, or brimmed their eyes with dew.

Then King Admetus, one who had

Pure taste by right divine, Decreed his singing not too bad

To hear between the cups of wine:

And so, well pleased with being soothed

Into a sweet half-sleep, Three times his kingly beard he smoothed,

And made him viceroy o'er his sheep.

His words were simple words enough,

And yet he used them so, That what in other mouths was rough

In his seemed musical and low.

Men called him but a shiftless youth,

In whom no good they saw; And yet, unwittingly, in truth,

They made his careless words their law.

They knew not how he learned at all,

For idly, hour by hour, He sat and watched the dead leaves fall,

Or mused upon a common flower.

It seemed the loveliness of things

Did teach him all their use, For in mere weeds, and stones, and springs,

He found a healing power profuse.

Men granted that his speech was wise,

But, when a glance they caught Of his slim grace and woman's eyes,

They laughed and called him good-for-naught.

Yet after he was dead and gone,

And e'en his memory dim, Earth seemed more sweet to live upon,

More full of love, because of him.

And day by day more holy grew

Each spot where he had trod, Till after-poets only knew

Their first-born teacher as a god.

- James Russell Lowell. 3. Study Helps.

(Numbers refer to stanzas.)

1. Did this happen just a thousand years ago? Did Lowell mean that the youth's hands were

"nothing worth"? Who would be likely to think so?

2. What did Apollo make of the tortoise-shell? What different feelings could he rouse with his music? Think of another word for fearless. When is music used now to make men fearless?

3. In the days of King Admetus, kings had musicians to entertain them while they ate. What did the king say in praise of the youth's singing? What do you think of this praise?

4. How did the music affect the king? The first part of the word viceroy means in place of, and the last means king. What does the whole word mean?

5. How did Apollo show that he was a superior being? How did his speech differ from that of common men?

6. What does shiftless mean? Why did men call Apollo shiftless? The second syllable in unwittingly means know. What does un mean? What . does the entire word mean? What is meant by "They made his careless words their law"?

7. How did he learn? Did he really sit idly?

8. What did he see first in things? What else did he find in them? What does profuse mean?

The thought in this stanza has been likened to

Shakespeare's thought, that if we have the poet's eye, we may find

" Sermons in stones, Books in running brooks, And good in everything."

9. Explain the feeling that men had towards the poet while he was on earth. What names did they give him?

10 and 11. Tell how his life affected the world after he was gone.

4. Oral Composition

Tell the story in the poem as simply and clearly as you can.